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Lunch and Lecture

Fun Palaces is the thematic title for tours about the history and architecture of the entertainment industry, including –

• pubs
• theatres and cinemas
• spas and hydros
• the seaside

– focusing on types of architecture where rich effects were contrived with wit and ingenuity, and often cheaply, to give the poorer classes of society a temporary experience of luxury, comfort and freedom.
Visiting entertainment buildings – original and restored – dating back to Tudor times shows the durability and adaptablity of show business traditions in response to social and economic change.  In particular, from the late nineteenth century onwards shrewd business brains used improving technology – gas-lighting, electricity, photography, amplified sound and broadcasting – to bring fascinating changes to audience entertainment.
Entertainment buildings of all kinds are endearing and enjoyable, sometimes located in entertaining places such as the seaside, at other times located in the most unexpected corners of Britain.  Whether currently in entertainment use, or waiting to be brought back to life, these places provide some of the most memorable and poignant architectural experiences a visitor could wish for.
Mike Higginbottom’s next talk for our Lunch and Lecture meeting is on 22nd October 2010.